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The Democratic Party of Korea officially launched the Strategic Nomination Management Committee on the 21st and pledged victory in next year's general election. In particular, Representative Lee Jae-myung repeatedly emphasized, "Next year's general election is an important task to prevent regression that could cause all the achievements Korea has built up to collapse at once."

On the same day, Lee presided over the first meeting of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee held at the National Assembly and stated, "The government and ruling party are incompetent, irresponsible, violent, and even shameless, so I am worried that this country might be completely ruined depending on the results of next year's general election." He added, "Livelihood, economy, peace, and democracy are all at risk of being destroyed," and claimed, "In reality, we are experiencing tremendous regression."

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the 1st plenary meeting of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee held at the National Assembly on the 21st.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "I even doubt whether security issues are being approached seriously for the future of the people and the nation," and added, "Some worry that provocations by North Korea might be effectively induced to cause military clashes, but this does not seem like an unfounded claim at all."

In particular, he criticized, "Raids happen anytime, day or night," and said, "There has never been a case in history where a large-scale investigation team was formed and raids were excessively conducted over a presidential defamation case." This remark was interpreted as targeting the prosecution's raid on the residence of lawyer Song Pyeong-su, who was active in Lee's election campaign committee during the last presidential election, in connection with the defamation case against President Yoon Seok-youl.

Lee emphasized the importance of 'strategic nomination,' saying, "In addition to making good policies, how to place good people is also a very important strategic task." He continued, "The Strategic Nomination Committee will be the ones to solve the Democratic Party's general election victory formula. Basically, we will conduct 'systematic nominations' according to the party constitution, party regulations, and special party regulations, but in addition, we must also place appropriate strategies and people."

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the 1st plenary meeting of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee held at the National Assembly on the 21st. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Democratic Party formed the Strategic Nomination Committee with a total of 10 members. Inside the party, Chairman Ahn Kyu-baek, Secretary Han Byung-do of the General Election Planning Group, Secretary Kim Seong-hwan of the Talent Committee, Deputy Secretary-General Kim Yoon-duk of the Organization Office, and Vice Chairman Park Young-hoon of the Democratic Party Youth Council participated. From outside, Professor Eun Min-su of Sogang University, former Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Committee Team Leader Kim Jin, lawyer Kim Chun-hee, Professor Chae Jeong-ah of Hanyang Women's University, and Senior Researcher Song Yoon-jung of the National Budget Research Institute joined.

According to the Democratic Party's constitution and regulations, the party leader can select electoral districts that require special consideration for election strategy within 20% of all constituencies, and confirm recommendations through the resolution of the Supreme Council and approval of the Party Affairs Committee. Strategic nomination target areas include constituencies with candidates excluded from nomination, vacant constituencies due to non-candidacy or disqualification, vacant constituencies due to redistricting, and constituencies where candidates' competitiveness in the general election is significantly low.

Within the party, it is expected that around 30 constituencies will be strategically nominated in next year's general election. In the 21st general election, 48 constituencies were designated as strategic election districts, of which 31 were nominated unopposed. The remaining 17 held two-person primaries.

Ahn Kyu-baek, Chair of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the 1st plenary meeting of the Strategic Nomination Management Committee held at the National Assembly on the 21st. [Image source=Yonhap News]

After the meeting on the same day, Chairman Ahn Kyu-baek told reporters, "We will place the right people in the right places, not just the right places," and presented five principles for strategic nomination: ▲ review from the perspective of overall election strategy rather than individual constituencies ▲ ways to expand the party's values and outreach ▲ recommending candidates who can win ▲ recommending candidates with future and potential capabilities who are desired by local constituents ▲ recommending candidates consistent with the party's identity.

When asked about the nomination competitiveness of lawmakers suspected of being involved in the party convention money envelope scandal, he replied, "It is not a situation where we can make a judgment now, and our party lawmakers say they did not receive the money envelopes." When asked again if this meant that simple indictment is not enough to make a judgment, he drew a line, saying, "We need to make a comprehensive judgment, so it is not a situation to comment on before it even starts."

In particular, when criticized that there are concerns about nominating pro-Lee figures as 'assassin candidates' in constituencies of non-Lee faction lawmakers, he rebutted, "How could such incompetent people within the party nominate the same people as assassin candidates?" and said, "We are not considering such things." He added, "The terms 'mainstream' and 'non-mainstream' are just wordplay," and emphasized, "The most important criterion is to nominate candidates who can win the election."

The second meeting of the Strategic Nomination Committee is scheduled to be convened on the 10th of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.